A decade ago, Don Pyke coached under Adam Simpson.
In 2024, he’ll be his boss.
The announcement on Thursday that Pyke will be West Coast’s incoming CEO represents a new step in the former Adelaide coach’s footy journey, but one he’s confident he’s ready for.
Pyke is already a two-time premiership winner, a Hall of Famer and life member of the West Coast Eagles, while he also has a Bachelor of Commerce and has forged a successful business career. He travels west after an impressive stint coaching Adelaide and then as an assistant at Sydney.
Eagles coach Simpson is already one of the most under-pressure coaches in the league and if the Eagles spend a third consecutive year in the bottom two, it’s not anticipated he’ll keep his job beyond 2024.
Pyke, his former strategy coach, now has the discretion of Simpson’s hiring and firing.
But Pyke doesn’t see that dynamic as an issue and instead believes it will be a strength of his at the Eagles.
“We got on really well when I was assistant coach for a couple of seasons under him before I went to Adelaide, so I don’t see that as an issue,” he said on SEN WA Breakfast.
“I sort of experienced a little bit of that when I went to Sydney under John Longmire, it was a bit of a leap for Sydney to bring on someone who has been a senior coach back in there and I was really respectful of my role there which was not to be the coach, but to be an assistant coach.
“It’ll be the same here, my role won’t be to coach but it will be to be the CEO.”
Pyke resigned as Adelaide coach in late 2019 after two poor seasons when the club was haunted by its 2018 pre-season camp. It was a tumultuous time in the history of the Adelaide Football Club, but one that prepares him for what could be to come at West Coast.
“We’ll work with each other and find out where we can help each other… I can also empathise, as I could with John (Longmire), with Adam, because I’ve sat in that chair, I’ve walked in those shoes, so I understand the pressures that come with that role and understand the week-to-week focus that you need to bring and the energy you need to bring to make sure you get the most out of the playing group,” Pyke continued.
“I think we’ll have a really strong working relationship.”
Pyke will officially join the Eagles in mid-January to work with outgoing CEO Trevor Nisbett, who has been at the club for over three decades.
The two will work together for a yet to be confirmed period before Nisbett takes leave and ultimately departs West Coast later in 2024.